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Concluding Note
These reflections on the four cardinal virtues have been placed in a feminine context. Perhaps on another occasion we will reflect on them in the context of men. The particular challenges they pose to men may be somewhat different but, in the end, not all that much.
All of us - men and women - are challenged to escape from the prison of self-centeredness, and to pursue the glorious freedom that comes from opening oneself to God's goodness. It is our choices which determine the basic orientation of how we live and where our life leads us. If we choose to make the self the center of our lives and aspirations, we are heading in the wrong way; gradually becoming weary of ourselves, and shrinking toward nothingness.
To grow, we need the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity; and, to complement them, we also need these cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Together they sustain our human and Christian life, and lead us forward and upward to ultimate fulfillment and eternal happiness.